Engine dead, any ideas?

MedDreamer

MedDreamer

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Currently sat on my boat in Cala D’Or marina with a completely dead engine.

Boat is new this year and the engine is a Mercruiser 6.2L petrol. All electrics on boat are fine including Plotter, leg trim and anchor winch, water systems, lights and music.

However when I turn the ignition key nothing happens! Don’t get the high pitched buzzer and none of the dashboard dials operate including depth sounder. I’ve checked the kill cord and that the gear lever is in neutral and all the fuses I can find on the battery panel and 12v breaker panel and all seem to be set.

Any ideas what it could be? it seems like engine electronics to me but I am far from an expert and I’m not sure why that would stop the depth sounder working, so perhaps a bad connection on the ignition?

I have spoken to the UK based dealer we bought the boat from and they were helpful but couldn’t really help from a distance. Currently waiting for Local engineer to pop down and have a look so thought I would ask the forums opinion while I am sat waiting

Cheers

Martyn
 
Thanks for the reply, hopefully I’ve checked all the obvious stuff - battery on, kill cord in place etc. Could well be a loose wire but I would prefer someone who knows what they are doing look at it rather than me.
 
Bloody forum......

Have you checked the large fuse/breaker that is normally found on the engine?

Try moving the lever into/out of gear in case of dodgy neutral detection switch.
 
Thanks Julian, I haven’t found the fuse on the engine but will have another look. Any idea where it might be?

Martyn
 
Local help is (a) Nick Barke of Boats.co.uk

(b) German Engineer - Guido - 0034 689 414 012

Have you been in the engine room and accidentally pushed the stop button. I had this last year. On Volvo you have to pull them up and when down they dont look down! Dont know about Mercruiser.

Is the battery flat? Are volts showing on the volt meter ( assuming it has one). The other things you mention are possibly on house batteries ( leg trim aside )

Depth sounder I would have thought would have been on house batteries. Does it usually require the ignition to be on to operate? I have not come across one that does. If not then it suggests that a common battery negative has come off behind the panel.
 
MedDreamer said:
Currently sat on my boat in Cala D’Or marina with a completely dead engine.

Boat is new this year and the engine is a Mercruiser 6.2L petrol. All electrics on boat are fine including Plotter, leg trim and anchor winch, water systems, lights and music.

However when I turn the ignition key nothing happens! Don’t get the high pitched buzzer and none of the dashboard dials operate including depth sounder. I’ve checked the kill cord and that the gear lever is in neutral and all the fuses I can find on the battery panel and 12v breaker panel and all seem to be set.

Any ideas what it could be? it seems like engine electronics to me but I am far from an expert and I’m not sure why that would stop the depth sounder working, so perhaps a bad connection on the ignition?

I have spoken to the UK based dealer we bought the boat from and they were helpful but couldn’t really help from a distance. Currently waiting for Local engineer to pop down and have a look so thought I would ask the forums opinion while I am sat waiting

Cheers

Martyn
Click to expand...

No 'shut offs' still in wrong position?

Starter solenoid U/S? If you have some jump leads, can you connect battery across the solenoid terminals to check, thereby bypassing any starter switch? I'm no mechanic, but I would try that.
 
According to the manual you have to remove the plastic cover on the engine and under it there should be a big red button, press it to reset the breaker.

It's all in the manual under electrical system overload protection, around page 17.

There's a few others on the net with a similar problem.
 
MedDreamer said:
the gear lever is in neutral
Click to expand...
How can you tell for sure? Doesn't that engine come with electronic throttle control?
Regardless, since the boat is (I suppose) under warranty, I wouldn't even try doing anything before an official Merc engineer can have a look...
 
+1 as above, a wire has dropped off. Total electrical failure is usually much easier to diagnose than poor performance.

The vital clue, as you have identified already, is that the depth sounder is dead too, while other instruments are fine. This indicates the fault is nothing to do with engine electronics, you have simply lost a 12v connection (or a ground return) somewhere behind the instrument panel. You don't need to be an electronics engineer to know how to use a multimeter, it's one of the most useful bits of kit you can own on a boat.

While waiting for your local expert to arrive, I would start by physically checking the push on connections are all in place and pushed on all the way. If they get slightly corroded they get resistive but if the boat is new that shouldn't have happened. Also try flipping the relevant breakers on and off a few times, they can sometimes stick open circuit when they look 'on' and this is a quick fix. Good luck.
 
Great advice all, thank you.

Engineer is here now and he also suspects something minor, just gone to get his gear. I will let you know what he finds

Martyn
 
alant said:
No 'shut offs' still in wrong position?

Starter solenoid U/S? If you have some jump leads, can you connect battery across the solenoid terminals to check, thereby bypassing any starter switch? I'm no mechanic, but I would try that.
Click to expand...

Don't do that sparks in engine bay petrol engine boat!
 
Engineer been and it’s none of the ordinary stuff. Going to get their electrics specialist to look at it next week but it looks like no boating for us this weekend ?
 
Is the boat still under guarantee? Does the guarantee cover when your boat is not in the UK....should do, we are still in the EU....just!
If so best to check with the agent if he agrees with the way you are proceeding and if he will pick up the bill. The charges will start to ramp up now as experts start to suck teeth at your expense.
Explain that the agents alternative is to send someone out from the UK.
 
MedDreamer said:
Engineer been and it’s none of the ordinary stuff. Going to get their electrics specialist to look at it next week but it looks like no boating for us this weekend ?
Click to expand...

Does the depth sounder usually come on before engine start?

This to me is critical - as if so it is defiantly a break in the 0v line ( 0v / -ve is common to the whole system).

If yes then run a lead from the negative side of the battery to the negative supply of the depth sounder. It should then come on ... and I would predict so will everything else.

If it normally comes on with the engine then ignore, but that would be a pretty odd setup in my view / experience.

I am not sure who you used, but I am not sure at this point it needs a specialist. There are 39 mins between your two posts - so he seemed to spend 30 mins trying to solve this which does not seem long.

Call Guido, or Nick Barke and ask if he can spare Paul for a look.
 
jrudge said:
Does the depth sounder usually come on before engine start?

This to me is critical - as if so it is defiantly a break in the 0v line ( 0v / -ve is common to the whole system).

If yes then run a lead from the negative side of the battery to the negative supply of the depth sounder. It should then come on ... and I would predict so will everything else.

If it normally comes on with the engine then ignore, but that would be a pretty odd setup in my view / experience.

I am not sure who you used, but I am not sure at this point it needs a specialist. There are 39 mins between your two posts - so he seemed to spend 30 mins trying to solve this which does not seem long.

Call Guido, or Nick Barke and ask if he can spare Paul for a look.
Click to expand...

On my previous boat with mercruiser petrol engine, the depth guage only came on with the engine ignition key. I presume this one is the same. This was because the depth guage display was in the rev counter, as opposed to a separate display unit like my current boat.
 
Portofino said:
For me sounds like - ve bus bar has disconnected to the dash .
We don,t know if there’s a separate engine bat that’s just dead .
When did it last run ?
Click to expand...

Probably not if the depth sounder usually comes on with the key ( odd design!). However there is most likely a fuse or breaker that has killed the whole panel. Seems panel related as Trim works and the odds of that being on house batteries is relatively low.

Just run 12v to the depth sounder and see what happens. I might power the whole thing up. I am assuming that you have used a multimeter to confirm that 12v is not actually present.
 
Hi everyone

Sorry I’ve not been responding to your posts, dealer has been in touch with Monterey but nothing they have suggested so far has made any difference. In line fuse near the buzz bar seemed likeliest but changed that and no different.

Engineer back here now.

Martyn
 
Looks like I wasn't the only one fooled by the unusual depth sounder detail. julians' post #16 may explain why, if you confirm your boat's depth sounder is configured the same. I assume j's recommendation in post #8 has been checked out too.

We are so short on detail here that it's hard to help with the diagnosis. You don't say if you checked with a multimeter for 12v and 0v connections in the right places, starting with the engine circuit bussbars before and after the remote relay (assuming there is one) and finishing at the engine, but I'm sure your local bod did and he should also have measured the voltage drop across the replacement fuse which would point him in the right direction! My gut feel remains that this prob should be an easy one to pinpoint with a multimeter.

Lucky it happened in the marina during working hours and not at 4:30pm on Sunday when about to leave an anchorage :)
 
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